Writer: Jason Aaron

Artists: Chris Bachalo (main)/Kevin Nowlan (backup)

Marvel is taking a bit of a chance on a new Doctor Strange comic. The Benedict Cumberbatch feature film isn’t being released for another 13 (ha!) months, so the company is going to have to make an effort to keep this title afloat so it can eventually reap the benefits of the film’s debut in 2016. The movie will do fine. It’s Marvel Studios. It’s Benedict Cumberbatch. It’ll be subjected to a lot of “Will this be Marvel’s first flop?” articles like Ant-Man was and then do fine at the box office. The comic, I’m not so sure about.

Doctor Strange is a fantastic character who’s a staple part of the Marvel Universe and goes back just as far as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Having said that, he’s never been the company’s biggest sales draw. I’m fairly certain the All-New, All-Different incarnation of the book is something like the sixth or seventh iteration of the title, which includes various limited series and titles like Strange Tales and Marvel Premiere which were basically Doctor Strange under a different title. And then there’s the various Defenders titles which tend to be an expansion of the Strange mythology. Bottom line: he has his fans, but he carries cancellation like some kind of curse that not even his magic can cure.

I won’t say the cycle has been broken here. Hell, I’ll put money on this book eventually being cancelled. However, I do think that this incarnation of the Doctor Strange title has a better shot than earlier attempts. The Jason Aaron/Chris Bachalo pairing works surprisingly well here.

First, let’s talk about Aaron, a big-name writer who nonetheless brings mixed reactions to his works. (Thor is well-liked. His Incredible Hulk wasn’t. Star Wars is sucking in money, but it’s Star Wars.) I think he’s actually figured the character out. Aaron is surprisingly respectful of the character’s rich history and involvement in the mystical ends of the spy-and-cosmic heavy Marvel Universe. Here, Aaron returns Strange to his early role as a sort of mystic house-cleaner, like a Ghostbuster without a proton pack who New Yorkers can call for supernatural troubles. The opening fight in the issue–Strange battling some extra-dimensional invaders–is a surprise callback to the character’s very first appearance in Strange Tales where he helped a guilt-ridden man deal with demonic invaders in his head.

From there, Aaron takes us through an impressively detailed walk through a day in the life of Strange, showing how he protects the city from the mystic things unseen that we probably don’t want to know are there, the same way you don’t want to know what’s really in your food or on your skin. It’s a very creepy and yet amusing concept all at once. This is actually not a new take on Strange, but I do think it’s one that’s been largely lost since he’s been so heavily incorporated into the Avengers. Aaron also has fun with the larger mystic history of Marvel in a scene where Strange goes out for drinks with Doctor Voodoo, Shaman, the Scarlet Witch, and even Monako, a golden age character who hasn’t been seen since a cameo in The Marvels Project. Overall, I think longtime Strange fans are going to have a blast with this book.

Chris Bachalo’s art was a little unsettling at first. His portrayals of the extra-dimensional realm in the opening pages had a confusing layout that made it a bit hard to follow the story. However, any shortfalls in his early pages are quickly improved upon as the story progresses. His art style makes familiar characters feel like themselves and New York feel like New York. As for the rest–well, if you’re familiar with Bachalo’s art, you know that he has a very dark, weird edge to him, and this is the perfect book in which he can cut loose. I do think he should work on Strange’s appearance just a bit–the character looks to be in his upper 20s here, even though Stephen Strange has tended to be one of Marvel’s older characters (probably in his 50s). “Young adult” Strange doesn’t look right and I hope future issues weather him a little more.

All in all, this is a great start for Marvel relaunch month, and if you’re looking forward to the 2016 Doctor Strange film, then this book should help satisfy your appetite while you wait.

Rating: Five Out of Five Agamottos.